Finland´s Europhile finance minister Stubb does not think the EU is eternal

Finland´s Europhile finance minister, former Prime Minister Alexander Stubb is worried about the future of the European Union. Here is what he said in an interview when asked about the possible downfall of the Union:

"I do not know whether the EU is eternal, probably not. In 2020 we will probably see whether we will survive this. It is interesting to see, what the world looks like 15 years from now."

If a leading Europhile expresses himself in this way, be prepared for huge changes 15 years from now, or probably earlier ...

Finland acts against possible Russian threat: New Rapid reaction units close to Russian border

Great news from Finland:

HELSINKI — Finland's Armed Forces Command has added a quick response dynamic with plans to locate rapid reaction units (RRUs) to military districts that fall under the command of the country's four military provinces.
Defense Minister Jussi Niinistö described the initiative as necessary to strengthen operational readiness and bolster Finland's overall defense and deterrence capabilities against rising regional tensions over Russia's military intervention in Ukraine.
The focus of deployment for the RRUs, which constitute a new feature within Finland's territorial-based, infantry-centered defense strategy, will be military districts close to Finland's 833-mile border with Russia.

A tale of two CVs

Extracts from the official CVs of the Finnish and Swedish Prime Ministers make interesting reading

Prime Minister Alexander Stubb:

1999 Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) international politics, London School of Economics
1995 Master of Arts (MA) political science, College of Europe, Bruges
1994 Dîplome de Langue et Civilisation Française (DL), Sorbonne Universitet, Paris
1993 Bachelor of Arts (BA) political science, Furman University, South Carolina, United States
1988 Matriculation (magna cum laude), Gymanasiet Lärkan, Helsinki
1986 Highschool Diploma, Mainland Highschool, Daytona Beach, Florida, United States

Language skills
Finnish, Swedish, English, French and German
Publications
Eleven books on the EU, about 30 academic articles on the EU and over 100 columns

Prime Minister Stefan Löfven:

Trade union training
School of Social Work and Public Administration, Umeå (1½ years)
Welder training
Upper secondary school, business programme(2 years)
Compulsory school (9 years)

Mr. Löfven´s official CV page does not include any information about his language skills. However, this brief video gives a hint:

PS

It goes without saying that a less educated politican can be as good a politician as an educated one. However, in our globalized age it certainly helps to have language and educational skills.

Congratulations EU!: The man who led Finland to economic catastrophe, will now be in charge of jobs and growth!

The fact that former Finnish PM Jyrki Katainen will be in charge of jobs, growth, investment and competitiveness in Juncker´s new European Commission illustrates what is wrong with the European Union.

Judge yourselves whether the new Vice-President for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness is the right man for his job after reading what Björn Wahlroos, former economics professor and probably the most influential Finnish business executive and investor right now, has to say about the government Katainen led:

Finland is in a “catastrophic” and “murderous” economic situation, facing a challenge greater than in the doldrums of 1991, estimates Björn Wahlroos.
The outspoken tycoon refers to a recent interview in which Anders Borg, the Swedish Minister of Finance, suggested that Finland is a cautionary example of how a country can destroy its competitiveness.
“We messed up a couple of labour market agreements and tried to rectify that with measures that further increased labour market rigidity. Costs crept up. The results are evident: jobs keep on disappearing,” states Wahlroos.

A traditional measure of the competitiveness of an economy is to examine its terms of trade – the value of its exports relative to that of its imports. “In Finland, it has deteriorated by 30 per cent, which is unusual. In the meantime, wages have increased by 40 per cent,” lists Wahlroos.
“Wages have crept up by 20 per cent over the past six years alone – during a period when the gross domestic product has failed to grow one bit. In fact, it has dropped. If you're asking whether this is a problem, the answer would be yes!”
Industries, in turn, have refrained from making major investments after the financial crisis swept over Finland in 2008. “A substantial amount of jobs has disappeared. And here's the regrettable part: more will disappear,” predicts Wahlroos. --

In effect, the Government of Stubb continues to carry out the government programme hammered out by the Government of Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen (NCP) in 2011. “It's founded on as bad a premise as possible. What's regrettable in terms of political history is that it was founded on a bad premise partly knowingly,” Wahlroos states.

PS

Katainen resigned as captain of the sinking Finnish ship in June in the knowledge that he would be rewarded for his failure with one of the exorbitantly well-paid EU top jobs. You´ll never walk alone, if you belong to the "club" ....

Finnish PM Stubb: "Russia´s repeated incursions into Finnish airspace are deliberate and designed to create tension"

The behaviour of Putin´s Russia is beginning to seriously irritate also the Finns:

Russia’s repeated incursions into Finnish airspace are deliberate and designed to create tension, Prime Minister Stubb claimed on Saturday.
Speaking on Yle’s Ykkösaamu politics show, the prime minister said the three alleged violations by Russian aircraft within the space of one week were “not a question of an accident”, and said the behaviour gave a “bad message”.
Stubb said Russia's foreign policy is based on "power politics" and the philosophy that "if I'm winning, you're losing". He said it was not uncommon for the superpower to forment instability on its borders, such as in Ukraine and in Georgia in 2008.
He described the situation as “serious” but said there is no cause for alarm. “You can’t compare what’s happening in Ukraine to the situation in Finland,” he said.
On Friday Finland’s defence forces announced its Hornet fighter jets were on standby to see off any further attempted airspace breaches.

A clear majority of Finns consider Vladimir Putin a threat to the stability of Europe

Most Finns consider this man a threat to the stability of Europe.

A clear majority of Finns have a realistic view about the dictator in neighbouring Russia:

Six out of ten Finns consider Russian president Vladimir Putin as a threat to security according to a new survey published by the magazine Talouselämä.

1000 Finns were asked whether Putin is a threat to the stability of Europe.

59 per cent of the respondents were of the opinion that Putin is a threat to Europe. Less than one-third, or 32 per cent did not consider Putin a threat to the continent's stability. Nine percent chose the option "do not know".

Finnish operatic mega star Karita Mattila refuses to appear with Putin's puppet Valery Gergiev

Kudos to Finnish operatic star soprano Karita Mattila, who recently refused to appear together with dictator Vladimir Putin's puppet Valery Gergiev in New York. Because of Mattila's refusal the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra had to invite Italian conductor Fabio Luisi to lead the concert in the Carnegie Hall on April 12.

Shame on Munich Philharmonic Orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra, both of which continue their co-operation with the much overrated Ossetian conductor!

Finland's military officers ready to join NATO

The overwhelming majority of Finland's military officers are in favour of Finland joining NATO:

Finnish military officers are concerned about Russia’s intentions, according to a survey published in the leading newspaper Helsingin Sanomat on Saturday. Four out of five officers who responded to a poll by the daily believe that the military threat from Russia has increased.
A majority of those interviewed said that Russia’s foreign policy has become more aggressive since Vladimir Putin was re-elected as president in 2012.
Helsingin Sanomat and the Finnish Officers’ Union carried out a joint, anonymous survey of union members’ views on security policy around Eastertime. Of the union’s 6,000 members, 2084 responded to the poll. Two thirds of them are on active duty.
More than 40 percent of those who replied said that Finland’s political leadership should have acted more firmly in regard to the Ukrainian crisis. The results also indicate an increase in support for NATO membership, with nearly two in three saying this would be the best security option for Finland.

Finland's real security experts have made their position clear. Unfortunately, the country's laeading politicians, including president Sauli Niinistö, are far less clear. They still appear to be caught in the legacy of Finlandization.

Former Putin adviser: Finland on the list of states "where Putin claims to have ownership"

Finland could very well be on Putin's list in the not too distant future, if he is not stopped by the West:

One of Russian President Vladimir Putin's closest ex-advisers has claimed that the ex-KGB agent wants to reclaim Finland as Western fears surround Russian manoeuvre in Eastern Europe.
Andrej Illiaronov, Putin's economic adviser between 2000 and 2005 and now senior member of the Cato Institute think tank, said that "parts of Georgia, Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltic States and Finland are states where Putin claims to have ownership."
"Putin's view is that he protects what belongs to him and his predecessors," he added.
When asked if Putin wishes to return to the Russia under the last Tsar Nicholas II, Illiaronov answers: "Yes, if it becomes possible."
Illiaronov admits that Finland is not Putin's primary concern at present but, if not stopped beforehand in other areas of Eastern Europe, the issue will arise in the future.
"Putin said several times that the Bolsheviks and Communists made big mistakes. He could well say that the Bolsheviks in 1917 committed treason against Russian national interests by providing Finland's independence," Illiaronov told a Swedish news website.

Illiaronov could very well be right. Just remember what Putin said in a speech to the Russian Military Historical Society not too long ago:

 Russian President Vladimir Putin says that the Soviet Union launched the Winter War with Finland in order to “correct mistakes” that had been made when Finland gained its independence in 1917.

For some strange reason - a relict from the era of Finlandization? - a clear majority of Finns are still against joining NATO. Time for President Niinistö and some of the county's other top politicians to start educating their voters?

Kissinger on Finland as an example for Ukraine

Henry Kissinger on Finland as an example for Ukraine:

Ukraine should be free to create any government compatible with the expressed will of its people. Wise Ukrainian leaders would then opt for a policy of reconciliation between the various parts of their country. Internationally, they should pursue a posture comparable to that of Finland. That nation leaves no doubt about its fierce independence and cooperates with the West in most fields but carefully avoids institutional hostility toward Russia.

The problem is that Finland does not "cooperate" with the West - it is a member of the European Union since 1995. Or does Dr. Kissinger not consider the EU part of the West?

Former British ambassador: The Baltic countries and Finland could be next on Putin's list of "ours"

Former British ambassador Charles Crawford points out who should be most worried about Putin's foreign policy:

The key to understanding Russian policy in the former Soviet Union is found in an interview Vladimir Putin gave back in 2003. Asked what his foreign policy was, he said something to the effect of "I aim to keep what's ours."
So much said, in so few words. All hail technique.
Thus, for example, what Russia sees as 'its' might include:

• any territories ever conquered by the Tsars or Stalin (including eg the three small Baltic republics, large chunks of Poland and Finland etc)
• any territories that belonged to the USSR
• any territories that belonged to the Russian SSR
• any territories where Russian influence 'naturally' belongs
• anywhere where non-trivial numbers of Russian citizens find themselves outside Russia's current borders (hence the busy policy of handing out Russian passports to Russian-speakers or others showing due fealty to Moscow, eg in Georgia/Abkhazia and now in Ukraine)

Inspector Clouseau's message to David Cameron

UK membership of the EU: Clouseau is on the case

Finland's inspector Clouseau - Europe minister Alexander Stubb - is offering his advise to David Cameron:

“You don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to understand that it is in the interest of the United Kingdom to remain a steadfast member of the European Union,” Stubb said. For the U.K. even to contemplate leaving would be “simply silly,” he said.

Integration of migrants in Europe: A Finnish example

There is a growing number of migrants in most European countries. Politicians and local officials are trying to integrate them, although it does not always seem to be easy. Here is one example which shows how "integration" should not be done:

Patrons of the Rantakylä swimming hall in Joensuu, northeast Finland are perplexed by the rules pertaining to special ladies-only swimming sessions. A local mother recently tried to take her three-year old son to the session but they were turned away and told that only women were allowed.

"It's related to migrant integration and has received a positive reception. About 50 – 70 customers attend the sessions every week, and that's about half of our total visitor numbers," explained Pentti Ryhänen, Joensuu city facility manager.

However the popular swimming session has also caused some bewilderment. Some believe that the city should not segregate swimming times based on gender. One local mother was taken aback by the strict enforcement of the segregation rule when she tried to take her toddler son to the swimming class.
"I thought it would not be a problem because he's such a small boy. However when we got to the ticket kiosk they asked whether the child was a boy or a girl and they turned us away. Naturally I was upset," the mother said.

Facility manager Pentti Ryhänen said however that there has been little negative feedback over the single-sex swimming session. He noted that that it should be clear that boys are not allowed, even if they are very young.
"Parents are free to attend other sessions with their sons," he pointed out.
Ryhänen said that immigrants have offered positive feedback about the ladies-only sessions to city authorities. They have also made proposals for developing the service.
"One proposal was that we should cover the windows of the swimming hall during these sessions so that no one can see inside. But we won't be doing that," he added.

Let's hope the windows in the Joensuu swimming hall will stay uncovered!

French president Hollande gives up his summer residence - Will other political leaders follow suit?

One must admit, that our political leaders often have a tough and difficult job, particularly in times of austerity. On the other hand, in a historical perspective, elected (not to speak of unelected) heads of state and prime ministers have been rather good at creating an environment for themselves, which makes it a little bit easier for them to endure the hardships of the job.

Authoritarians and dictators are of course in class of their own in this regard. Take e.g. Russia's Vladimir Putin, who's presidential perks include 20 palaces and other luxury residences, 58 planes and helicopters, several yachts and a collection of watches worth many times his annual salary.

But even in western democracies, presidents and prime ministers usually enjoy a rather opulent lifestyle, which does not go along very well with the austerity measures they prescribe to ordinary tax payers.

The Brégançon fortress, the French president's former summer residence.

That is why this decision by French president François Hollande is a clever symbolic move:

"François Hollande has given up the Riviera fortress that has served as a retreat for French presidents since Charles de Gaulle, in the name of austerity.

The Brégançon fortress, perched on a rocky outcrop overlooking the Mediterranean, will from next year be thrown open to the public as one of France's national monuments, Mr Hollande's office said."

Will David Cameron follow suit by giving up his summer residence Chequers? Or how about Angela Merkel selling off her second residence in Bonn?

Or would e.g. the president of Finland, Sauli Niinistö, who is known for his rather modest lifestyle, be prepared to get rid of his official summer residence, which is described as a "mini-Versailles" on the president's official website?:

Kultaranta, the Finnish president's "mini-Versailles".

"The President of the Republic's summer residence, Kultaranta, stands in beautiful 54-hectare grounds in Naantali on the southwest coast. As well as the granite-built house, the complex includes numerous outbuildings and greenhouses, and a well-tended park

Kultaranta park is a kind of mini-Versailles. In the middle is the 'Medallion', surrounded by a carefully trimmed fir hedge. Inside is Kultaranta's famous rose garden, which has 3,500 bushes. The scent and colour of these roses are at their peak in the middle of the summer, when the President and family and their guests come to Naantali for the holidays. The parkland to the north of Kultaranta is in practically a natural state, though a few sandy pathways have been built there, and the woodland is kept in good condition.
Kultaranta has about 1000 square metres of greenhouses. The garden supplies the President's household with both flowers and vegetables all year round.

Midsummer, the great summer festival, is a special time at Kultaranta: the President is sure to have arrived by then, and the great Midsummer bonfire on a nearby islet is an event enjoyed by the whole Naantali area.
Tourists are denied access to the house at Kultaranta. It is the President's 'summer villa', a place where he/she can be undisturbed."

(images by Wikipedia)

A clear majority of Finns believe that the Eurozone will disintegrate within the next five years

The Finnish government still believes that the Eurozone is here to stay, but ordinary Finns are are much more realistic about the fate of the failed European common currency. A recent poll confirms that a a clear majority of Finns believe that the current Eurozone will disintegrate within the next five years:

Around 60 percent of respondents said they felt that in five years’ time the Eurozone will not have retained its present shape. Over a third responded that the current form of monetary union would not survive past 2018.

Lassi Ojala, a research leader at Think If Laboratories, the body that conducted the poll, claims that Finns seem to expect the weaker European countries to drop out of the monetary union.

Researchers in Finland have found a way to combat global warming: Reindeer!

Could Rudolf be the solution in the fight against disastrous global warming?

Researchers at the University of Turku, Finland, have found a way to protect humanity from dangerous global warming - Reindeer! 

According to Professor Lauri Oksanen of the University of Turku, grazing by reindeer keep arctic vegetation in check, thus reducing the solar heat absorption that leads to a self-reinforcing cycle of climate change.

Snow cover and mostly barren tundra reflect large portions of the sun's rays. When darker shrubs and trees spring up in arctic areas they absorb more energy, heating up their surroundings and the earth's atmosphere.

Researchers in Finland have now carried out a comparison between an area in Norway where reindeer are not allowed to graze in the summer, and a similar area in Finland where grazing reindeer have kept shrubs and tree from growing.

They have found that the heat radiated by the overgrown area in Norway is at a much higher level.

"The heat difference between what happens there and in the Finnish area during three spring months, March, April and May, would be enough to melt a cubic kilometre of ice. That is no small matter,” explains Professor Lauri Oksanen.

(image by wikipedia)

Putin's puppet Medvedev tries to please his master

Russian dictator Vladimir Putin's tiny puppet, Medvedev, apparently tries to please his master: 

 Any expansion of NATO to include Sweden and Finland would upset the balance of power and force Russia to respond, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday, underlining Moscow's nerves over moves to bring the Western alliance closer to its border.

Although Sweden and Finland are not actively seeking membership, both nations cooperate extensively with NATO and have openly debated the possibility of joining.

Speculation over Sweden mounted after it warned earlier this year that its defense capabilities were alarmingly limited. It was embarrassed in April when it could not respond to Russian military jets nearing its border, according to media reports.

Finland shares a long boundary with Russia.

"New participants emerging close to our border will change the parity and we'll have to take this into account and respond to that," Medvedev told a news conference at a summit of Nordic and Russian leaders in Norway.

"NATO ... has a military potential which can be used against our country in certain cases," Medvedev said, as Finnish Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen and Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt looked on.

Bildt's response was good - the cautious Katainen probably remained silent: 

"The fact that Norway is a member of NATO has not had any negative effect whatsoever on the development of cooperation in this part of the world," Sweden's Bildt said in response.

Of course, nobody takes Medvedev seriously anymore, and Putin will not have the resources to beef up his armed forces in any significant way. Russia earns billions from raw gas and energy exports, but most of it disappears through corruption into the ever expanding pockets of those favored by the KGB mafia now in charge. 

Congratulations to the Finnish National Police Board: Vladimir Putin on Finland's criminal blacklist (officially by mistake)

Putin as a KGB agent.

The Finnish National Police Board is to be congratulated for putting Vladimir Putin on a secret criminal register, which according to news agency AP could have theoretically gotten him arrested at the border. Of course everybody from the Interior Minister Päivi Räsänen downwards have apologized for the "mistake" - and the formal reason why Putin's name was added to the list is perhaps not the most convincing one. It is, however, widely known that Putin is a criminal dictator, who should be jailed, both inside and outside of the mafia state he has created. 

Finnish police say the Russian president's name was mistakenly placed on a secret criminal register that could theoretically have gotten him arrested at the border.

TV station MTV3 reported Wednesday that Putin was placed there for his contact with Russian motorcycle gang Night Wolves, though he wasn't suspected of a crime in Finland. But National Police Board spokesman Robin Lardot told the AP the listing was a mistake and that Putin's name was removed from the list.

"The National Police Board has investigated the case and indeed found that such a mistaken entry was in the register," Lardot told The Associated Press. "We have ordered it to be removed and are investigating the case very thoroughly. We don't know how it got there." He declined further comment.

Read the entire article here

Finnish YLE television has some additional information:

According to the MTV3 programme "45 minuuttia", the NBI suspected that Putin might have contributed to organised crime, citing his links to a motorcycle gang. The addition of his name to the list took place last November, shortly after Putin gave an award to a leader of a motorcycle club called the Night Wolves.

However, the NBI told Yle that it did not have any ongoing investigations where the Russian head of state was suspected of any crime.

Putin defends Stalin's brutal aggression against Finland

A Finnish ski patrol, lying in the snow on the outskirts of a wood in Northern Finland, on the alert for Russian troops, 12 January 1940.

Vladimir Putin, dictator of the mafia state called Russia, has again showed his true colors. In a speech to the Russian Military Historical Society at Novo-Ogaryovo, the former second rate KGB agent defended his idol Joseph Stalin's aggression in 1939 against a small neighboring country, Finland:

Russian President Vladimir Putin says that the Soviet Union launched the Winter War with Finland in order to “correct mistakes” that had been made when Finland gained its independence in 1917.
“The border was just 20 kilometres from St Petersburg and that was a significantly major threat to a city of five million”  

"Historian" Putin gets it wrong on all counts. The Finnish border was not 20 km from Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), but almost 40 km away. Of course Finland was no threat neither to Leningrad nor the Soviet Union. And the population of Leningrad was about 3,5 million at most, not five million. 

Putin's argument about the "correction" of the "mistakes" of 1917, when Finland gained its independence, is also revealing. Apparently Putin sees Finland's independence as a "mistake", which Stalin rightly tried to "correct". 

Russian historians, as opposed to Putin, are nowadays more familiar with the reality of the Winter War:
It was a war one of the sides involved would rather forget, while the other fights to keep the memory alive. Finns are commemorating the 70th anniversary of the start of the Winter War against the Soviet Union.

After months of ultimatums, on November 30, 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Finland.

With a sizeable advantage in manpower, tanks and aircraft, the Red Army command expected victory within weeks.

“We could not understand why. The Soviet Union was so big, so why would they take something from us?”says Lars Loflund, Finnish war veteran.

Just months earlier, the Soviet Union and Germany had signed a non-aggression pact, which contained a secret protocol dividing North and East Europe into spheres of influence. Finland fell under the USSR's.

That fitted in with Stalin's plan to expand the Soviet border from its second city of Leningrad. However, the Soviet Union had underestimated the Finns.

The Finnish Commander, General Mannerheim, had ordered the construction of a powerful line of fortifications. Although poorly equipped, the defenders knew the rugged terrain, and were better prepared for the plunging temperatures.

“In the conflict zone there were no roads, no settlements – just forests and lakes. Nothing to get your bearings from”, says Viktor Lavskiy, Russian War Veteran, adding, “The soldiers and the equipment were not ready, and the reconnaissance was insufficient.”

As losses mounted, the Soviets pumped more and more troops into the theater of conflict to finally break through the Finnish fortifications. Despite making inroads, the cost of the war was proving too high for the USSR.

On March 12, 1940, it accepted the offer of a ceasefire less than six months after the first shots were fired. While Finland ceded around a tenth of its territory, it retained its independence.

It had been a short but bloody war. Twenty-five thousand Finns were lost, but the number of Soviet casualties was up to five times that amount.

“During Soviet times, people were reluctant to even mention this war. It was difficult, not particularly successful, and however you try to spin it, the Soviet Union was the aggressor,” says Aleksandr Golubev, Historian from the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Even if Putin is wasting enormous sums of oil and gas money (which should be used for "correcting" the backwardness of the Russian society) on rebuilding the Russian army, he will fortunately not be in a position to "correct" the "mistakes" with regard to Finland. But it is important for Russia's neighbors - particularly the Baltic countries - to understand what kind of a person is in charge in Russia today. 

PS

The wars in Chechnia and Georgia are of course more recent examples of the policy of "correcting mistakes", favored by Putin. 

US special forces training in Finland

A Finnish machine gun crew during the Winter War in 1939-1940

This is great news from Finnish YLE:

US Army special forces in Finland for winter war games

The troops and their equipment will be heavily sequestered from the public eye during the two weeks of training exercises.

Apart from learning the ins and outs of winter warfare, the Americans are hoping for some night-time skiing, said Utti regiment commander Colonel Heikki Välivehmas.

“The timing is the best possible, because we now have a national training exercise that they can naturally join so they can experience a Finnish winter,” Välivehmas said.

The elite US Army soldiers will also provide training for their Finnish counterparts in international operations.  Välivehmas said the joint training will be beneficial for local forces.--

This year the Utti Jaeger Regiment has a contingent of 60 troops to be deployed as reinforcements in Nato’s Response Force (NRF) operations. The troops don’t know in advance what their assignment will be or where they will have to ship out.

From Utti, the US Army special forces will move on to Lapland next week. Members of the Utti infantry regiment will then test their American colleagues’ winter war skills across northern Lapland.

PS

The number of US special forces now training in Finland is limited - only a ten-man team - but their war games together with Finnish colleagues are still most welcome,particularly when one considers Russian dictator Vladimir Putin's recent bravado about Russia's armed forces moving on "to a new level of capabilities in the next three to five years".